To Take Me Away
by teachme2rock
Summary: (SLASH!) Freddy and Zack both get abused at home, but in different ways. To take themselves away from their troubles, they begin a game of seduction, that could lead to more... (maybe R later)
1. Just Give Me Something

Tough.

That was one word that described Freddy Jones. He was no softy. He had never been. He was always the first one to step up to fight if someone said something. Of course, he knew when to hold it in, and when to let it out, and when to let it go with a few angry licks against the cymbals or base drum.

Drums.... He guessed they were one thing he was good at. One thing... since Dewey had come to town, he'd felt like something. He'd felt like he had something to go on, not like he was just floating around in space. Not like he was useless. Not like he was nothing.

Not like he was a good-for-nothing shit-head of a son who didn't deserve to live under the same roof as his father...

Thinking about this as the new sub passed out her math papers, Freddy turned to look at Zack Mooneyham. That dark hair was un-gelled and falling lightly into the boy's eyes. He blew softly upward, to force the hair away from his eyes as he concentrated on his math paper. Freddy knew he wasn't concentrating. He was waiting for that bell just as eagerly as Freddy was. He was just being more polite about it. 

Freddy, Zack, Katie, Summer, they were all waiting for that bell. Waiting to run over to their REAL education. Their REAL school. 

Their REAL Teacher.

Ever since Dewey had come, flipped them upside down, and turned them inside out... well, Freddy was seeing things differently. Of course his father was right, it was a worthless waste of time, and he should give it up. But somehow.... His heart wouldn't let him. Drums... Most people don't think they're for real. They take no skill. 

Ha.

They take as much skill as any other instrument.

Without realizing it, Freddy was staring at Zack. Zack, sensing eyes on him, look up. Seeing it was Freddy, he dismissed the stomach-flop for hunger pains and sent him a small smile. Putting a hand under his desk, Zack also sent him a secret "Rock-On" sign. The slow, mischievous grin Freddy sent him was enough to give him another "hunger pain". 

Freddy nodded at him, and stared at his math paper. Okay. He could handle busy-work for another fifteen minutes. 

...

...

...

Okay, maybe he couldn't. 

Finally, he just decided to stare at the damn paper until the bell. He thought about the first show. Damn, Zack could play. He ran circles around everyone else. That guitar and him would go places. 

_Unlike me... _he thought to himself. 

He turned the paper over, finding a blank side, and began to doodle. And then doodling turned into drawing. And then drawing turned into a full-fledged portrait of Summer, who happened to be sitting in front of him. Hell, it was something to do. So, he drew Summer, capturing her to perfection, even directly nailing the look of absolute boredom on the girl's face, and then stared down at his sketch in disgust.

Another stupid waste of time.

The bell rang, and he dashed up from his seat, crumpling the paper as he rocketed out the door. 

Oh well.

Catching up with Zack, he tapped the boy on the shoulder. Zack stopped and immediately went rigid.

"Hey dude, wassup? You okay, man?" Freddy asked, concerned about his friend's obvious fear. Zack immediately relaxed.

"Yeah, I'm cool. You just scared me." he turned his dark eyes towards Freddy's own, and Freddy let himself become entranced in their depths. It was too easy to loose yourself in those eyes. Just let your heart wander in their darkness forever and you'll be content. At least this was Freddy's notion. He wasn't so sure he'd like anyone else to be lost in there with him, either. 

"Uh... Freddy? You awake, man?" Zack was a little uneasy, being so close to... Freddy? Since when did the drummer affect him like this?

_Since forever, maybe..._

Shaking that thought away, he tried to remove the uneasiness as well. They walked in silence, simply enjoying one another's company for awhile. Soon, they were in a heated discussion about whether _Alice In Chains_ was metal or grunge, and without realizing it, got closer and closer to one another.

That is, until Freddy's hand touched Zack's.

And sparks of something went straight down Zack's spine.

And Freddy's heart almost rammed right into his ribs.

Both had stopped talking. Zack turned to look at Freddy, and found the boy staring straight back. Only one thought ran through both their heads:

_Did he feel it, too?_

Clearing his throat and breaking eye-contact, Freddy continued the sentence he had stopped in the middle of, and the conversation went back to normal. 

Well, almost back to normal. 

The only differences being Zack's inability to look Freddy in the eye, Freddy's new shade of red, and their hands...

Which, the entire time, had not moved an inch.

***

"Alright," Dewey was saying to the band, "Great job today. But, unfortunately, I'll get in trouble if I keep you little punks here any longer. So scram." 

Zack began packing up his guitar, a little more distracted than usual. Well, a lot more distracted than usual. Okay, the guy wouldn't know it if a train just ran through the building. Which is why he was quite surprised when a chair he hadn't realized he'd picked up fell from his hands and onto his foot.

"OW! Awe shit, that hurt!" He moaned, hopping on one foot for a moment.

"I'll bet. Somethin' up, Mooneyham?" came Dewey's voice from behind him. 

"Huh? Oh, no, everything's fine. Thanks for askin' though, Dewey."

Turning around to pick up his guitar case, Zack's shirt rode up a bit, and Freddy saw a large purple-ish bruise on the small of his back. 

_What the..._ Freddy thought as Zack strode out the door, carrying his guitar case.

Freddy resolved to call him later. That was a nasty bruise.


	2. To Take Me Away

Still thinking about the large bruise on Zack's back, Freddy walked the five blocks it took him to get from Dewey's place to his. It was a fairly nice house, built with every necessity and whim of a prominent business man. Two floors and an attic, a spacious back yard, and a garage for storing one of the two cars they owned.

Opening the door and stepping inside, he plopped his backpack onto the nearest object able to support it's weight (the couch), and walked into the kitchen for a snack. The chips were laying on the counter top, aluminum bag still unopened, so he grabbed them.

His dad would be out late tonight, which was good, so he popped in a movie and opened the chips. However, his mind couldn't seem to concentrate on the movie. It's preferred subject of thought seemed to be Zack Mooneyham. Particularly the large bruise on Zack Mooneyham's back.

_Jeeze, where'd he get that?!_ _That was one nasty bruise..._deciding to find out, he paused his movie and went to pick up the cordless phone from the kitchen. He dialed Zack's number and waited three rings, before hearing a feeble "Hello?"

"Zack? Hey, It's me, Freddy." Freddy was relieved Mr. Mooneyham hadn't answered. Something about the man had always made him a little uneasy.

"Oh, hey Freddy, what's up?" Zack sounded relieved. Freddy smiled.

"Oh, nothin' much. Just watchin' a movie. You?"

"Nothin' much."

"Hey man, I gotta ask you somethin'," Freddy began. "I saw that nasty bruise on your back. What happened?"

Zack was silent for a long moment. Freddy was sure that he had been disconnected, when Zack finally answered feebly "It's nothin', okay?"

That was Freddy's warning flag. Nothing? Had Zack even SEEN the bruise on his back? Freddy was sure he at least FELT it. Oh no. That boy wasn't going to get away with 'nothin'.

"Hey, you wanna come over tonight, practice and stuff?" Freddy asked.

"Sure! Okay, I'll be right over!" As Zack hung up, he was pretty sure the boy was sounding a little OVERLY excited about getting out of the house.

After he hung up with Zack, Freddy turned to find the looming figure of his father standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Who was that, kid?" his father's voice was gruff, sanded down from too many years of being on the street. He'd married Freddy's mother out of need for money, and the woman was never around anyway. Too many business trips.

"Just Zack." Freddy answered softly.

"Just Zack," The man began to raise his voice. "You should be glad there are people like Zack out there who take enough pity on you to be your friend. You should learn your place, you little shit-head! All you'll ever be good for is accepting handouts, so get fucking used to it! That Zack is probably feeling sorry for you. That kid's gonna go places, and where will you be?! Here! That's right, you'll never amount to anything!"

_Tune it out... tune it out..._ As the barrage of insults continued, Freddy closed his eyes and tried to block it all out. But...

_He's probably right... I am a loser... I'm not going anywhere... _

Soon, Freddy couldn't take anymore insult, and ran to his room. Shutting and locking the door, he curled up on his bed, and silently let the tears fall.

Shrugging his backpack and guitar case over his shoulder, carefully avoiding his newest bruise, Zack Mooneyham banged on the door of the Jones' place. A tall man with blonde hair, much like Freddy's, answered.

"Oh, so _you're_ Zack. Get in here. He's up in his room." The man let him in, shut the door, and walked into the kitchen.

_Was that Mr. Jones?_ Zack wondered as he climbed the steps. Looking down the hallway, He saw a door marked with many stickers, signs, and band paraphernalia. With a slight smile, Zack headed toward the door. _Freddy, your decorating style is... unique..._

Opening the door, The first thing Zack heard was the loud music blasting from a large sound-system. But as he listened more closely, he heard faint sobs, coming from a large blanket-covered thing on the bed.

"Freddy...? Is that you?"

The figure immediately jumped up. Sure enough, it was Freddy. Even through the tears, Zack could recognize his best friend's eyes.

"Hey Zack." Freddy said, nonchalantly. _Yeah. As if I HADN'T just caught you crying your eyes out..._

"Freddy, what's wrong man?" Zack asked. Freddy immediately began hiding his face. Why was he trying to hide his tears from him?

"Nothin'," he sniffed. "Hey, you brought your guitar, right?"

Zack nodded, holding up the case. They set up and started practice. Each noticed something was wrong with the other. Freddy noticed that Zack didn't seem to be moving as much, while Zack noticed Freddy seemed to be trying to punch a hole in his drums.

They noticed other things, too.

Freddy couldn't help but notice the way Zack held himself up when he played his guitar. As if it were a lead suit on superman. It made him invincible. Nothing could hurt him, not even Kryptonite. And the passion he was putting into it.... Like it was his life. That body... moving in time with the music, it was seductive in a way Freddy couldn't explain. Though the fifteen year old guitar prodigy wasn't moving as much, probably due to the bruise on his back, the movements were enough to make Freddy seriously consider dropping his drumsticks and throwing him against the wall into a very serious make-out session.

Freddy had realized his sexual preference soon after the School of Rock formed. He just couldn't get into _any _of the fangirls, or ANY girl for that matter. He had, however, noticed Billy's first boyfriend was VERY nicely toned...

He knew his father would never approve. He'd probably kick him out. Probably call him a fuckin' fag and tell him to get the hell out fast as possible. Probably tell him that he was a little whore who couldn't get a girl to look his way once, so he had to 'switch'. Probably tell him any boy stupid enough to fuck him once was a damn idiot. So he kept it a secret from everyone. Even Zack.

But Zack was looking REALLY good right then. Really, REALLY good....

Zack couldn't help but notice the way Freddy played is life through those drums. As if he were letting loose a monster. Anger. Hate. Pain. They all flowed into those fingers, tightly gripped around the drumsticks. They released his emotions through the room, like a window into his anger. The strong arms were banging out a rhythm that would have made any guitarist but himself (Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix included) stop playing and stare. Those eyes were filled with a kind of devilish delight only Freddy could make look incredibly sexy. REALLY sexy. Sexy enough to make Zack seriously consider dropping his guitar to push Freddy down on the bed for a good... well...

Zack had known his own preference by the time he was thirteen. Though he knew what would happen if he told anyone, he couldn't help how he felt. In particular, how he felt to a certain blonde-haired lion of a drummer. He couldn't help feeling this. He didn't want to feel this, not for his best friend.

But Freddy was looking REALLY good right then. Really, REALLY good.

By now, Freddy wasn't watching what he was playing, and neither was Zack. They were too busy giving each other secret glances to notice. They both came to their senses, however, when Zack accidentally played a string of screeching high notes, and Freddy missed and pounded down on the cymbals. This, of course, nearly broke both their eardrums.

"MOTHER FUCK!!!" Exclaimed Freddy, dropping the drumsticks. Zack had dropped his guitar pick and covered his ears.

As the noise died down, they ventured a glance at each other. Zack let go of his ears and gave Freddy a weak smile. Freddy smiled back.

"Um, Zack, you kinda dropped your lucky pick." Freddy said.

"Oh no! Where is it!" Zack dropped to his knees and began a thorough inspection of the area, inadvertently giving Freddy a fairly good view of his ass.

"Found it!" Zack stated, triumphantly holding up his favorite navy blue guitar pick. Noticing Freddy's stares, he raised a questioning eyebrow at the drummer.

"Like what you see, Jones?" He said with a slight smirk.

It took Freddy a minute to decipher that question. This was Zack. The 'Innocent-Boy-Turned-Rock-Prodigy'. And he was dropping FREDDY a line. Were pigs flying yet? He wasn't sure...

Zack had said those words without even realizing it. _What's wrong with you, Mooneyham?! Do you WANT to give yourself away?!_

He was sure Freddy would laugh at him now. Something like that. At least his father wasn't around. Zack knew what would happen if his father was around.

He didn't like the idea of having his father around right then.

Freddy was quite sure Zack was joking. Sure, guys joke like that all the time.

But, somehow, Freddy found himself wishing it wasn't.

He thought about his dad. About the stupid things his dad always said to him. About how most of them just had to be true, since he said them so often. About how he didn't want them to be true. About how he wished there was just something to... to take him away...

And suddenly, he felt a sly smile trace across his lips. And he felt his lips moving. And he felt himself speak.

And he heard himself say "As a matter of fact, Mooneyham, I do."

Sorry the update took so long. Writers block sux.


End file.
